Time Of Sadness
by josiahyb99
Summary: Small one-shot of the scene in season 1 episode 12 "Anatomy of A Murder," where Jughead apologizes to Cheryl for his dad "Killing Jason."


Kevin and The core 4, excluding Jughead were sitting around a lunch table discussing the recent events of F.P confessing to the murder Of Jason Blossom.

"He didn't say anything about your Dad, Ronnie," Archie says looking at the girl in question. "So that's a good sign that he probably was not involved.

"Yeah I guess," she replied.

Betty was still having a hard time believing that it actually was F.P. who committed the murder. Something just didn't add up. "No," the blonde spoke up. "I refuse to accept this." They all turned towards her. "There has to be more. My mom told me that she saw F.P talking to Joaquin."

Kevin was appalled. "No. Betty, do not bring my boyfriend into this."

She shot him an apologetic glance, before her attention was drawn back to Veronica and Archie, who were both looking right past her.

"Oh my gosh," Archie says, watching his best friend enter the cafeteria, a sullen look on his face.

"What happened to him not coming in today?" Veronica questioned.

Jughead ignored all their glances and walked straight up to Cheryl's table. He turned towards the grieving red-head. "I'm sorry Cheryl," he says, sadness in his tone. But he cant quite bring himselt to look her straight in the face. That is until she stands up and looks at him.

A look of anger crosses Cheryl's features, and she proceeds to slap him across the face. The girl grabs unto the lapels of his jacket pulling him towards her and proceeds to land blow after blow onto his chest.

Jughead lets her continue to assault him. He knows she just needs to take out her frustrations on someone. Better for it to be him, rather than an unsuspecting bystander. After awhile, he grabs both her wrist and pulls her towards him into a hug. She keeps sobbing, her body shaking violently as he whispers soft assurances into her hair. "I'ts okay. It's gonna be alright," he keeps repeating like a mantra, until she seems to calm down a little. She pulls away from him, but he does not let go just yet.

Cheryl looks up at him, tears still in her eyes. A look of understanding passes between them. Her voice is quiet when she finally speaks. "I'm sorry I stained your jacket."

He gives her a small smile. "It's okay. You needed to let it all out." They hug once more, before he lets her go. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Eventually," she answers truthfully. "What about you. Your practically an orphan now."

"Don't worry about me. I'll figure it out." He flashed her another smile, that she returns this time, before they both walk off in separate directions.

The entire room, who had been silent observers, were sharing multiple looks of shock. None of them knew what to do next. The core 4's table were also surprised, having never expected anything like that to have ever happened between the two teens. Some sort of emotion passed over Betty's face. Remorse, sadness, understanding, or jealousy. Veronica couldn't tell. All she knew was she just saw a whole new side of the pair that she never expected to see. In a way, it's almost like Jughead and Cheryl have become more real more genuine to her. Like they actually are able to be reached now. No longer could she fit them into the boxes of rich bitch, or loner outsider that she had originally associated them with.

**That's all for this story guys. Let me know how you enjoyed it, or didn't enjoy it. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. **

**This story is not meant to be read as a romance, but feel free to read it that way if you wish. I just wanted to explore that connection that Cheryl and Jughead could actually have if they were given the chance to actually get to know each-other. I understand that it may seem a little out of character for Jughead to want to comfort Cheryl, but like I said, I wanted to explore the potential friendship they could have, and I always thought this moment in the show was a great place to begin that development. **


End file.
